Amith Prabhu | 2014: A year that promises a lot of action

06 Jan,2014

By Amith Prabhu

I began writing this weekly column in the middle of last year and was afraid it will die a natural death given the dearth of topics to write about. With this piece I begin a full year of columns hoping this column will go from strength to strength. Today I will write about what I see as the five trends in Public Relations in 2014.

From media coverage to event participation: The desperation for media coverage is being replaced with numerous intellectual events providing speaking and smart sponsorship opportunities. Gauging the quality and credibility of these events will be hard and some properties will be more sought after than the others.

Political PR will gain ground: Most people confuse this with government relations and lobbying. On the contrary this is about constituency relations and communications for the new age politician and political party. Give the importance of communications in the 2014 elections, a variety of individuals and firms will offer services in this space.

PRworthy will be replaced by Trendworthy: An increasing number of marketing and reputation building ideas will focus on the social media space and especially twitter. Ideas will need to work on creating a buzz n Twitter than merely cutting ice with a journalist.

FIFA World Cup and the rise of Sports PR: The attention of the entire world will focus on the soccer world cup in Brazil that will take place mid-June onwards. Though India does not have a team presence, Indians love soccer and brand will do a lot to engage this fan base.

CSR & Data and Analytics: This will be the year when Indian PR firms will start investing in divisions that focus on the two important aspects of a PR campaign for clients. There will be a great demand for professionals who specialize in these areas.